Hearts shareholders head to AGM in search of answers from board

With Hearts having plunged into the bottom six, the manager's position still vacant and liabilities exceeding assets by nearly £25m, those in power will not get off so lightly this time.

Although majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov is not obliged to attend – he isn't a member of the board – it remains to be seen whether or not the owner will put in an appearance. While he will take a seat at tomorrow's match against St Mirren, even Tynecastle insiders didn't know yesterday whether Romanov would arrive in Edinburgh in time for an AGM which kicks off at 11am.

Uncomfortable with criticism and rarely willing to give much away about his intentions, such a public arena is unlikely to hold much appeal for a private man. However, if Hearts want to mend fences with their shareholders and supporters, then either Romanov junior or Fedotovas need to give at least some indication at today's meeting about what to expect next season on and off the field.

A recent poll in our sister newspaper, the Evening News, reported that 84.9 per cent of Hearts' supporters think team performance is poorer than 12 months ago, 70.7 per cent feared the club's financial status was weaker and 68.4 per cent believed backing for the club had waned. There was nothing extraordinary in those findings because the club's financial deterioration was itemised for all to see in the annual report and the playing demise has been accurately reflected in their lowly SPL position.

By any standards, this has been a dismal season for Hearts. If there's a silver lining amid the gathering clouds of gloom, it may lie in Romanov's tacit acknowledgment that his interfering style hasn't worked in Scotland and that a manager with greater autonomy will take charge next season.

George Foulkes, the former chairman, says it's what Vladimir Romanov does next that will determine the relationship between the club and its supporters going into next season. On that front, the appointment of an experienced, credible manager is perhaps the single most significant task on the to-do list of the club's board.

By appointing Campbell Ogilvie as chief executive, Hearts have already shown they can recruit and retain a talented Scot in a key position. Now the same urgency has to be shown in identifying a leader who can emulate the level of success enjoyed by George Burley during his brief tenure.

At the beginning of January, the club issued the following statement: "The board has begun the search for a football manager to fill the current vacant post at Tynecastle. The manager, who will have full responsibility for team selection, will be an experienced football manager and will preferably have management experience in British football.

The board of directors of Hearts acknowledges it is not acceptable for Hearts to be in its current position in the league. The new manager's task will be to drive the club forward on the playing side to fulfil the club's ambitions."

Four months later, the position is still unfilled and the sound of silence on the subject is deafening. The Vatican has used white smoke to signal the election of a new Pope since the 19th century and black to signify non-election. Only grey smoke, so far, has emerged from Tynecastle. That may be because the preferred candidate or candidates won't be available until the end of the season. If that's the case, then why not say so?

Getting the right man at a later date rather than rushing into a hurried appointment would be no crime. But Hearts should have made it clear in January that Stevie Frail was in charge for the rest of a season which effectively ended when Andrius Velicka was shipped out to Norway. Now the board needs to fill that void by outlining a summer timetable for interviewing credible candidates and installing a new man in time to oversee pre-season training and any new signings.

On the financial side, there should also be questions on how the club's pre-tax losses rose to £12.45m. While the wage bill went up by £2m, interest payments on loans increased, and around £1m was spent on plans for a new stand, the scale of those losses requires explanation in more depth.

As for the proposed £51m re-development of the stadium, many sceptics remain to be convinced that work on the new 10,000-seater stand will actually start next year. The planning application is currently with Edinburgh City Council. How a club with so much debt can afford to finance such a large project is another tricky question the directors may wish to address.

The cultural differences between eastern and western Europe mean it's unlikely transparency
will set the tone at today's AGM. Hearts' shareholders and supporters, though, can no longer afford to be appeased by populist rants from the top table against supposedly "dangerous" media.

However delicately the message is phrased, the time ha s arrived for Romanov to come clean on what happens next at Tynecastle.

QUESTION TIME AT TYNECASTLE
• 1) When will the club appoint a new 'British-style' manager?

• 2) Will the new manager have the authority to recruit and move on players as well as select the team?

• 3) How do the board plan to reduce debt without compromising playing standards?

• 4) How did the club's pre-tax losses rise to £12.45 million?

• 5) Will work on building the new stand start in the summer of 2009 if Edinburgh Council grant planning permission ?

Taken from the Scotsman